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Elon Musk Renames Big Falcon Rocket To 'Starship' (theverge.com)
On Twitter, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that the transportation portion of the company's Big Falcon Spaceship (BFS), will now be called Starship, while the booster portion will be called Super Heavy. The Verge reports: Plans for the 387-foot Big Falcon Rocket were officially revealed back in September. Eventually, the company hopes that it will replace the company's existing Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Dragon rockets. The craft is currently being developed at the Port of Los Angeles, at an expected cost of $5 billion and will be capable of taking up to 100 tons of cargo or 100 passengers as far as Mars.
SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said the company hopes to start doing uncrewed launch tests of the new rocket in late 2019. If all goes well, Musk believes that this could be followed by an initial uncrewed flight to Mars in 2022 with a crewed flight taking place as early as 2024. A mission to fly around the moon with a private passenger on board is planned for 2023. However, given that the Falcon Heavy took nearly twice as long to complete as expected, and that only five percent of SpaceX's resources are currently spent on the Starship, it's best to view these plans as an aspiration.
SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said the company hopes to start doing uncrewed launch tests of the new rocket in late 2019. If all goes well, Musk believes that this could be followed by an initial uncrewed flight to Mars in 2022 with a crewed flight taking place as early as 2024. A mission to fly around the moon with a private passenger on board is planned for 2023. However, given that the Falcon Heavy took nearly twice as long to complete as expected, and that only five percent of SpaceX's resources are currently spent on the Starship, it's best to view these plans as an aspiration.
Musk just called it the "BFR" in a reference to the BFG weapon in the Doom games, many years ago. ... trying to sound dull and respectable.
Only recently did Gwynne Shotwell start calling it the Big "Falcon" Rocket, because
It was not a cuss name exactly. It was merely an initialism than *hinted* at a cuss name. That's the joke.
Like DVD, KFC or BP, the term BFR doesn't formally stand for anything. Not at least until Miss Prim and Proper started calling it the Big Falcon Rocket. Hard to believe she is an engineer and not an accountant.
... now be known as the Starship Enterprise?
Like DVD, KFC or BP, the term BFR doesn't formally stand for anything.
That's funny. I was going to correct you with the meaning of those acronyms we all know, and when looking for sources I found that you're actually right. Thanks for the info.
That's him! The person who checks their facts before posting! Get him off the internet!!! :-)
Much as I like spaceX, I hate when companies take well established names for cool things and use them for less cool products.
A "starship" is sell understood to be a craft that travels between stars, not something that can launch a payload to another planet.
Similarly "jump drives" "US robotics" , "hover boards", and the ford "fusion" all are in that category.
The new rock is a heavy-lift rocket. Call it what it is or by some generic name "Neptune", Odin or something. Its cool enough as it is without exaggerating .
The craft is currently being developed at the Port of Los Angeles, at an expected cost of $5 billion
Compared to NASA's version the Space Launch System that is reported as costing $35billion.
Doesn't SpaceX have any feelings for subcontractors? How are they supposed to make a living when a new, non-governmental, outfit starts making competing rockets that are just as good, reusable and 7 times cheaper to develop and up to 10 times cheaper to launch?
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
Dud he add a warp drive or hyperdrive or some other FTL method?
Its not a starship until it can get to another star system
When you call something a 'starship' it should actually be, you know, a starship.